SE man faces felony solicitation charges

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 11:00 AM

A 24-year-old Sleepy Eye man, Timothy Kotten, faces a felony electronic solicitation of a child charge in Brown County District Court after allegedly chatting with a police officer who posed as a 13-year-old girl in a Yahoo! chat room in April 2012.

A 24-year-old Sleepy Eye man, Timothy Kotten, faces a felony electronic solicitation of a child charge in Brown County District Court after allegedly chatting with a police officer who posed as a 13-year-old girl in a Yahoo! chat room in April 2012.

If found guilty, Kotten could face imprisonment for not more than three years and/or a fine of not more than $5,000.

The complaint was filed Thursday, April 5, in Brown County District Court. Kotten’s first court appearance will be Tuesday, April 30 at the Brown County District Courthouse in New Ulm.

On March 21, a Brown County Sheriff’s Office investigator received a call from an officer with the Olivia Police Department who had been posing as a 13-year-old female while investigating Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC).

According to details in the complaint, the officer had allegedly chatted with a 19-year-old male identified as Timothy Ivan Kotten in a chat room beginning April 16, 2012.

Kotten allegedly told the officer that he was enrolled in online classes as a business student at a college in Marshall and was living at his family’s home when the chats took place. The court documents state that after some initial conversation Kotten allegedly asked the officer whether she had ever had sexual intercourse.

The complaint says that Kotten used the webcam for nearly the entirety of the chat and the officer observed his face. Near the end of the chat Kotten exposed himself.

Following that chat, according to documents, the officer accessed the Southwest Minnesota State University student directory and confirmed Kotten’s status as a student there. The officer accessed Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services records for a photo of Kotten, and identified him with the person viewed via a webcam feed the complaint said.

According to documents, On May 14 and June 20, 2012, Kotten and the officer again had contact via Yahoo! chat and Kotten allegedly exposed himself to the officer using a web cam and engaged in chat room conversation.

During the later chat room conversation, Kotten allegedly asked the officer if she would lay with him in bed.